Broadway director McAnuff's Macbeth has been playing to sold-out audiences during previews, as has Broadway director Gary Griffin's West Side Story. Both works play the flagship Festival Theatre. McAnuff is currently represented on Broadway with Guys and Dolls and Jersey Boys. Griffin staged Broadway's The Apple Tree and The Color Purple.
The Stratford Festival presents classic and contemporary international works in repertory on four stages in Stratford, Ontario. Other works open later in the season.
Here's the Stratford Opening Week at a glance:
7:30 PM Monday, June 1
Opening of Macbeth at the Festival Theatre
Directed by Des McAnuff and featuring Colm Feore as Macbeth and Yanna McIntosh as Lady Macbeth
8 PM Tuesday, June 2
Opening of The Importance of Being Earnest at the Avon Theatre
Directed by Brian Bedford and featuring Brian Bedford as Lady Bracknell 8 PM Wednesday, June 3
Opening of Three Sisters at the Tom Patterson Theatre
Directed by Martha Henry and featuring Dalal Badr, Lucy Peacock and Irene Poole
8 PM Thursday, June 4
Opening of Bartholomew Fair at the Tom Patterson Theatre
Directed by Antoni Cimolino and featuring members of the Birmingham Conservatory and Juan Chioran, Jonathan Goad, Randy Hughson, Tom McCamus, Lucy Peacock, Cliff Saunders, Brian Tree and Brigit Wilson
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| Paul Nolan plays Tony in West Side Story. |
Opening of West Side Story at the Festival Theatre
Directed by Gary Griffin, with musical director Rick Fox and choreographer Sergio Trujillo and featuring Chilina Kennedy and Paul Nolan 8 PM Saturday, June 6
Opening of Julius Caesar at the Avon Theatre
Directed by James MacDonald and featuring Ben Carlson, Jonathan Goad, Tom Rooney and Geraint Wyn Davies
The Stratford Shakespeare Festival's 2009 season runs until Nov. 1 and also includes the yet-to-open Cyrano de Bergerac; A Midsummer Night's Dream; A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum; Ever Yours, Oscar; Phèdre; The Trespassers; Rice Boy; and Zastrozzi.
Visit www.stratfordfestival.com.
